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Compilations that combine historical significance and regional flavor
Record-label compilations usually suck. When it comes to signing bands, few companies have such a consistent vision that the music can sustain a listener's interest over the course of 15 tracks, though unfortunately, many try. Two of the Pacific Northwest's best independent labels provide a noteworthy exception to this rule on recently released collections, Up in Orbit! and Some Songs--From the Kill Rock Stars Singles.The Sub Pop-affiliated, Seattle-based Up Records established its sound on the excellent 1995 compilation Stacked Up!, which successfully grouped punk-inflected indie-rock bands like Built to Spill with pop experimentalists like Land of the Loops. Many of these artists have stuck with the label, and it has expanded its roster to include Portland's Quasi, Washington's Modest Mouse, Scotland's the Pastels and others. Up in Orbit blasts off with Land of the Loops' playful beats and feel-good electronica in the appropriately titled "Welcome (Back)," then goes on an 18-song excursion that's remarkably cohesive, the equivalent a labored-over mix tape from a friend who has a serious crush on you. There's Violent Green's apocalyptic trip-hop ("The Glass Song"), Built to Spill's expansive emo-rock ("I Would Hurt a Fly"), Modest Mouse's angular brat-pop ("Heart Cooks Brain"), Satisfact's nouveau New Wave ("Escapism for the Future") and much more. Many of the tracks appeared on earlier recordings, whether an album, an EP or a 7-inch, though some are exclusive to this disc, such as Quasi's bizarre cover of a song by a Japanese band called the Spiders (I'll bet you didn't know Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss could harmonize in Japanese). Kill Rock Stars reportedly began operating when it was suggested to Slim Moon that he release a compilation by that name, which he did. It led to two variations--Rock Stars Kill and Stars Kill Rock--and the three albums formed something of a road map to America's underground art-punk scene in the early '90s. The Olympia label reached its apex of significance in 1997, however, as it released two of the year's most talked-about albums: Sleater-Kinney's Dig Me Out and Elliott Smith's Either/Or. Moon reached back into his vault for Some Songs, perhaps to offer a background on how Kill Rock Stars and some of its artists got where they are today. Each track is taken from a 7-inch issued on the label between 1991 and 1994. The title paraphrases Smith's meditative opener, "Some Song," a sparse acoustic tune from one of his first solo efforts. The compilation quickly steers into the raw yet well-crafted punk that's been the hallmark of this label throughout the decade. Starpower, a defunct band that featured future members of Semisweet and Satan's Pilgrims, is represented with "Treefort," and another Portland group, Team Dresch, contributes "Hand Grenade." Some of the bands that added to Olympia's hipster status are here as well: Bikini Kill ("New Radio"), Godheadsilo ("Elephantitus of the Night") and Unwound ("Hating in 'D'"). Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney's previous band, Heavens to Betsy, contributes the catchy, expressive "Firefly." Both of these compilations combine historical significance, a regional flavor and an appeal as albums that ebb and flow like a fine record by a band. They'd also serve as a how-to guide for budding indie entrepreneurs seeking to develop a distinctive, identifiable sound for a record label. Portland Postscript: One of this city's more active musicians and bon vivants will soon be leaving on an extended sojourn to Amsterdam. Greg Gallant, who experiments with sound in the noise band Anal Solvent and spins an odd assortment of jazz, lounge and psychedelia as DJ T-1-11, has decided to take a position at Stalplaat, the Dutch label affiliated with Portland's Soleilmoon. Before he leaves, Anal Solvent will play a farewell gig in an opening slot for Satan's Pilgrims and the Miss U's at Berbati's Pan on Friday, Jan. 2. Prior to the 9 pm performance, Gallant will screen his grandmother Dorothy's 1971 slide show, "Toad Tales." He describes it as a story of a family of toads that escapes from its aquarium to indulge in dangerous and illegal escapades. |
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